Don't go into hypothetical scenarios. The fact is Savage was cheating. If Hughes is genuinely concerned about Rovers' image, he should have a little word with Robbie or drop him. The saddest thing about Savage is that he's a cowardly stirrer. He never goes for the big guns - thus slapping 'the colossus' Wayne Routledge on the head or trying to get Reyes sent off.

I would stop being concerned, Phil, about Arsenal snapping up Bellamy. WHilst, he's probably good enough to play for them, I doubt Wenger would find his personality compatible. Same with Ferguson.

If Barry Ferguson is an 'abject failure' of a human being, I dread to think where that leaves the prevaricating Robbie Savage on the grand scale gauging the dregs of humanity.

I agree but our squad is so big that youngsters are going to have to do something exceptional to even get on the bench. That's not saying fringe players like Gresko, Flitcroft, Mokoena, Jansen etc are exceptional but Hughes will nearly opt for their experience to fill gaps.

One thing Gallagher definitely has in his favour is fantastic technique when it comes to kicking a football. His crossing is decent and long range shooting, including the dead ball, is also generally good. It sounds like he's refinding the form at Stoke that he was showing for the reserves before making the step up to the Rovers firsts. Bit of an MGP/Souey/Hughes situation with Matty. The manager who signed him departed soon after he arrived and the new man, Tony Pulis (that aesthete of fine football ), has his own preferences - namely, 6ft plus beasts to play up front to get their heads on the long ball. He does make the odd late sub appearance, I think.

Gary Harkins' Blackpool debut lasted 75 mins. They lost 3-2 to Colchester. Jemal Johnson played the second 45 in PNE's 2-1 win over Cardiff. Matt Derbyshire was used as a time-wasting sub in the 93rd min as Plymouth won. Jon Douglas remained rooted to the bench to watch Leeds' amazing comeback. Paul Gallagher, as Nolan9 reported, scored Stoke's second in a 2-1 win. Luke Jones' Cercle face Beveren tonight, with the Rovers player set to be a sub. And that, Ladies' and Gentleman, was your Rovers loanee round-up. Edit: Beveren thrashed Cercle 5-1. Jones was on the bench.

The decision to slim down the academy scene to clubs fielding one U18 side is definitely a positive step imo. The chances of a player slipping through, perhaps, is increased but that is off-set by the fact less expense goes on players who will clearly not make it. I think the youth international scene could do with something similar - although obviously not reducing to just one youth side per country but what is the point of U17s, U18s, U19s and U20s? How many of these players even make it to the U21s?

Excuse me, but I did not pin my hopes on Alan Mahon or Ciaran Donnelly. If you cast your minds back to Graeme Souness' consummate bungling of the left wing position, you will be reminded that at one depressing stage Alan Mahon was the only available senior left midfielder on our books (even though I think his preferred position is central). My 'outlandish' argument was that whilst we had no other left midfielder (David Thompson had proven to be ineffective in the role) and Alan Mahon had just had a impressive loan spell at Ipswich before he returned to Rovers, it would make sense to field Alan Mahon as a left midfielder until Souness had unearthed a better option. As for Ciaran Donnelly, it is true I suggested he should be involved in the first team squad. He had reached a decent standard for the reserves, impressed on loan at Blackpool and regularly played for England youths with distinction. Souness obviously agreed because Donnelly was summoned to the first team squad with Jon Douglas. However, such was the totally capricious nature of the promotion of youngsters during the Souey regime, the less talented Douglas got a game and went on to earn a ludicrously long contract. Donnelly didn't get a game and on the departure of Jerome Watt to Cercle Brugge, began to play right midfield for the reserves. His performances failed to catch Hughes' eye and he departed. Had Souness chosen Donnelly as the stop-gap on the left wing, it could be that he would be the one sitting pretty on a four year contract with Rovers and Douglas floundering in League One. And btw, George Galloway may be on the hunt for a fatherland of tyranny to invest his time but I am not after a white elephant to pin my hopes on. Although, Sergio Peter is a welcome addition to the first team squad to put pressure on MGP.

Or Sven stumbled upon the blindingly obvious fortuitously when Gerrard got injured before a previous match and King replaced him, making an impact. I strongly disagree with that. Shaun Wright-Phillips scored some scorchers for City, which indicates to me that he has more dimensions to his game than you are giving him credit for. He hasn't settled yet at Chelsea - no doubt staccato appearances are not helping a player accustomed to play 90 minutes of every game. However, when he does establish himself as a Chelsea regular, I think he will prove what a talent he is. Finally, I still think Michael Owen isn't amongst the world's best strikers; that's why he's at Newcastle. Although, I have to admit his finishing is reasonable.

Parker superior to Carrick? As a deep-lying playmaker, I'd go for the Spurs man. Gerrard on the right instead of Beckham. Purlease Sven!

Just for completion, Jay McEveley came on for Wilnis in the 58th minute for Ipswich in their 3-3 'ding-dong' battle with Derby. Edit: Interesting to read that Boskamp is fielding Gallagher on the wing.

Keane has a point. Darren Fletcher - a top player? I don't think so. However, the harshest criticism should be at Ferguson's door. Why hasn't he replaced Keane with a genuine replacement?

Drop Friedel for whom? Enkelman? He was a decent shot-stopper but deprived of first team action he has stagnated as shown by his inconsistent reserve displays, the worst of which, I am led to believe, was against Cercle Brugge. And these days he doesn't even feature for the reserves, so there's no surprise rustiness has set in. Richard Lee? Kevin Hitchcock rates him, which is why he was signed but he wasn't even Watford's number one. Is he ready? Steven Drench? Obviously not a short-term solution. Friedel has not been as impressive but he does seem to be our best bet right now.

I don't like the way Savage courts media attention. He should concentrate on playing football imo, that's all. We gave Chelsea a fright which more than most teams have managed this season.

Sorry, but if you can't see that Jose Mourinho is a good manager then there is little hope for you for you ever passing judgement on anything in an impartial way. Quite simply, he is the best tactician, man-motivator and most probably the best manager in the Premiership. It helps when you have money but that is no guarentee for success - see Inter Milan. It's no surprise he's not well liked by opposing fans/managers. It's the plucky losers that the neutrals love and Mourinho is anything but. Sure, he drives you up the wall with his arrogance but he has a lot to be arrogant about - unlike Robbie Savage. Putting aside club loyalties for a minute; who is better for the game? A supine manager who has made diplomatically vapid media interviews an art form and has succeeded in not succeeding for a very long time. (Think a certain Swede). Or a manager who speaks his mind, even when his mind is malfunctioning and is a proven winner with no respect for stuffy convention and who has put the wind up those Premiership aristocrats, Wenger and Ferguson. Perhaps you would appreciate Mourinho more if you considered the manager he is not.

Not much to separate the teams when both have got their strongest eleven out. However, I'd say that Charlton have the edge, not just because they're full of confidence right now but in central midfield, Smertin and Murphy are a stronger combination than Tugay and Savage.

Personally speaking, I have never felt the urge to make a charitable donation to a bookie - but each to their own. Seriously, though, I admire your optimism. However, if we do win, I can't see it being by more than a one goal margin.

Everyone's heard about Pandiani's Primera Liga goal heroics in the past but wasn't anyone else a little puzzled about why if he's this great goal poacher, no major club was after him? Perhaps he's not as good as people were making out.

Would require Savage to play a much more defensive role but Koumas would certainly inject a bit of imagination into our side. Failing him, Phil Jagielka is proving himself as one of the best central midfielders outside of the Premiership, albeit in a more defensive role. We can band names about all day but one thing is for certain, we need a genuine replacement for Tugay and we are unlikely to have a lot of money to achieve that objective.

Fans and management seem to be overlooking this game with Chelsea looming on the horizon (well I haven't heard or read any quotes from Hughes about the challenge from Leeds) which makes me a little nervous. This season's going to be a bit of a slog with mid-table mediocrity beckoning, imo, so it would be nice if we could put some gloss on it with good cup runs. Leeds should be no problem but if the players are distracted by the next Prem game, it could be a veritable banana skin. I expect a full-strength side with perhaps Tommo getting a run out.

Good to see we can grind out the wins with our defence very impressive. However, this scrappy encounter emphasises how much we need a decent ball playing central midfielder to be the focal point of our attacks - as Oklahoma has said. How much longer can we rely on a mercurial but over-the-hill Tugay?

Abbey, I thought you'd got over your love-affair with capslock.

Personally, I'd like to see Graeme retain his job. Newcastle struggling with the 'disciplinarian' at the helm is a right hoot.

Didn't play for the reserves yesterday, which seems to indicate that he's injured. Just a guess.

Yeah, why slag off players when you can always go for other mb users?